Tesco starts testing home drone delivery service in Ireland

After Amazon and Walmart the UK’s supermarket giant cannot be left behind. Tesco announces that the company has partnered with drone startup Manna Aero to start testing a home drone delivery service in Co Galway, Ireland.

Tesco starts testing home drone delivery service in Ireland

In Co Galway, Ireland, Tesco starts testing a home drone delivery service in partnership with Manna to allow small items to be dispatched to customers within 30 minutes to an hour of ordering.

Tesco and Manna will start a six-month trial in October delivering small products from it’s Oranmore store in Co Galway, Ireland where the drone startup has a license to operate, reports The Guardian. The home drone delivery service trial is aimed at ‘small baskets’ a market Tesco thinks will be worth £10B in the UK in the coming years.

Dave Lewis, the chief executive of Tesco, said: “They [Manna] have already proven the capability, the question is how do we take that capability and apply it to Tesco and that’s the detail that’s been worked on now before we get to the trial.”

Claire Lorains, group innovation director at Tesco, said: “We are interested to see how drones could be part of the solution to deliver to our customers on-demand small baskets. If our trial with Manna is successful, we believe there is an opportunity to reach many customers through our stores, extending via our drone service.”

The Irish Aviation Authority will need to approve the expansion of Manna’s home drone delivery service. The drones fly at an altitude of 260 feet and at a speed of over 50 mph, delivering packages within a 1.2-mile radius in three minutes or less.

The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic has boosted online ordering and delivery services around the world. Amazon, Walmart, and now Tesco are all testing home drone delivery services to increase the convenience and safety offered to their customers.

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